1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of telephonic communications, and to the particular field of locking devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
More and more people are relying on mobile phones. In some cases, a mobile phone is a person's principal means of communication. In fact, many people have totally replaced landline communications with mobile phone communications. As mobile phones become more versatile, they become even more useful and ubiquitous.
While extremely versatile and convenient, mobile phones, by their very nature, are susceptible to being lost or stolen. As anyone who owns a mobile phone knows, calls placed on that phone can be very expensive. A lost or stolen mobile phone can be used in an unauthorized manner to run up a very large phone bill for the owner of the lost or stolen phone.
For this reason, it would be desirable to have some way of locking a mobile phone to prevent unauthorized use. However, the system used to lock a mobile phone must not be difficult or cumbersome to use. For example, if a special combination of called telephone numbers must be used to activate a mobile phone, the system is cumbersome and inconvenient. A youngster may forget the combination. Since more and more youngsters are using mobile phones, this can be a significant drawback.
Therefore, there is a need for a means and a method for preventing unauthorized use of a mobile phone.
Still further, there is a need for a means and a method for preventing unauthorized use of a mobile phone which is easy and convenient to use.
To be most convenient, any lock used on a mobile phone should default to the locked configuration. That is, unless specifically unlocked the mobile phone should always be locked. With such a default setting, the user of the phone does not have to remember to lock the phone. However, this objective cannot be achieved by most presently-available mobile phones. If a special combination is required, the locked situation is generally not a default condition, and must be specifically and intentionally set. This creates a problem, especially for youngsters, which arises because the user must remember to lock the phone or the lock is useless.
Therefore, there is a need for a means and a method for preventing unauthorized use of a mobile phone which is easy and convenient to use and which uses a locked condition as a default condition.
Still further, since the profit margin on many mobile phones is very narrow, any system added to a mobile phone must be very cost effective and cost efficient. This objective applies to new phones as well as existing phones that are retrofit.
Therefore, there is a need for a means and a method for preventing unauthorized use of a mobile phone which is cost effective and cost efficient to implement both new phones and existing phones.